PITTSBURGH _ The help finally arrived for hard-luck right-hander Gerrit Cole.
After five innings of silence, the Pirates offense broke loose with three runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh en route to a 6-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night at PNC Park. Josh Bell hammered a three-run home run, Andrew McCutchen added a two-run single and Cole scattered three hits over seven innings of one-run baseball.
Cole (2-4) struck out three, walked two and scored his first win since April 14. In the five starts in between, bookended by his only wins, he had a 1.91 ERA and .186 opponent's batting average.
The Pirates improved to 17-23.
Nationals right-hander Jacob Turner threw five scoreless innings before Bell's blast. Turner allowed three runs on four hits and four walks in 51/3 innings. The Nationals, the highest-scoring team in baseball, were uncharacteristically quiet offensively. It was only the second game this season in which Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman both played, and had no hits.
McCutchen, removed in an eight-inning double-switch Tuesday, collected his first multiple-hit game since April 28, raising his batting average eight points to .216.
Prior to Wednesday, Cole had the lowest run-support average (2.50) among qualified National League starters in games he started. That, however, includes runs scored after he departed. Considering only the innings Cole was on the mound since the season opened, the Pirates averaged 1.98 runs per nine innings, lowest among all Major League starting pitchers.
The pitching matchup Wednesday pitted two former first-rounders against each other. Cole, the No. 1 pick in 2011, has established himself as an ace for the Pirates. Turner, meanwhile, was drafted ninth overall in 2009 by the Detroit Tigers and debuted at 20. He was traded twice, claimed off waivers once and granted free agency twice before landing in Washington this past December.
Five organizations and a 5.01 ERA by age 25.
Turner and Cole traded zeroes for five innings. Cole issued a walk in the second, a bloop single in the third and another walk, to the pitcher Turner, in the sixth. Turner saw more traffic, with three hits _ one was a pop fly and another a dribbler _ and two walks through five innings.
Smoke cleared and mirrors shattered in the sixth. A leadoff walk, a fielder's choice, a hit by pitch and a stolen base placed runners at the corners. Once Bell worked a 3-1 count, Turner was forced to challenge him with a fastball. He piped it, straight as an arrow down the heart of the plate, and Bell cracked it halfway up the right-field bleachers for a three-run home run.
The homer was Bell's eight home run this season _ the most among National League rookies _ and his third in five games. In 128 at-bats last season, Bell had three homers and 11 extra-base hits. In 122 at-bats this season, he has eight home runs and 14 extra-base hits.
With nine outs to go, Hurdle removed Bell and subbed in Danny Ortiz, who was recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis earlier in the day. Ortiz played right field. John Jaso moved to first base. Ortiz played Brian Goodwin's double nicely as it caromed off the Clemente Wall in the seventh, but Gift Ngoepe double-clutched the relay throw as the Nationals secured their first run.
Nationals manager called on left-hander Oliver Perez in the seventh, with left-handed hitters Adam Frazier and Jaso due up. Frazier singled. A bizarre sequence in the Jaso at-bat _ pitch between Jaso's legs as he squared to bunt, and a balk _ ended with a walk. After 11 pitches and no outs, Perez was replaced by right-hander Matt Albers.
The next batter, McCutchen, sliced a two-run single to right field. After Albers walked Ortiz, Francisco Cervelli padded the score with a sacrifice fly to right field, making it 6-1.
